


Kintsugi

by Eternal_dreamer



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Kageyama Tobio is Bad at Feelings, Kunimi is a great friend, M/M, Redemption, Second Chances, Slow Burn, but he's trying his best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-09-28 02:58:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17174567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_dreamer/pseuds/Eternal_dreamer
Summary: Even if Kindaichi knew Kageyama was no longer an egocentric king, there was no way he was ever going to trust him again. The bad blood between them ran too deep, and nothing can be done to fix it.He can apologize all he wants, but Kindachi won't even care. You can break a vase and say sorry to it, but it'll never get back to the way it was before....That's what he'd been telling himself, at least. Still, it's difficult to focus when all you can think about is how after a year you're still not over it, and how even seeing his face still makes you angry. Even though it shouldn't matter!They weren't friends. So it shouldn't matter.





	1. I hope you are satisfied

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor/gifts).



> So... Yeaaaah... My first fanfiction here! And it's a gift to the lovely @Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor), who got me into this pairing in the first place. They didn't know I was writing this, though, so... Surprise! Hope you like, and know that you were the one who inspired it <3
> 
> After all, we, shippers of rare pairs should stick together XD If no one else is going to write this exact story exactly the way I want... I might as well!
> 
> I'm not really sure where the story is going, but I know how to end it, so I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go. Enjoy reading!

Even though all first years of Kitagawa Daiichi started training at the very same time, Kageyama Tobio was the one who stood out. It was difficult not to be jealous, to be honest. Even Oikawa Tooru, the official setter of the team became intimidated by him. Tobio just seemed to have a natural talent for volleyball, picking up the pace very quickly, like some kind of prodigy.

He was non-stop.

At the beginning, no one thought anything bad about it. Yeah, maybe he was a little too invested on the game, but it didn't harm anyone, right? He was so young, and it was good that he had something he loved so much. He could pay a little more attention in class or try to be a little more sociable with his classmates, instead of focusing all his attention on volleyball, but that was teenagers for you. Too concentrated on his own world, that nothing else mattered. Still, he was happy like that, so no one questioned it.

But that was before things began to change. Soon enough the upperclassmen from the volleyball team graduated and went to another school. Tobio became visibly lost after that. He used to follow "Oikawa-senpai" around everywhere, like lost puppy, but now he was gone. He never did like Tobio much, always calling him an idiot and having a terrible personality in general. Still, he was someone Tobio could look up to, and now he was gone.

Now he was a second year, and his upperclassmen were nothing compared to the others.

Tobio heard they all went to the same school: Aoba Johsai. Kindaichi and Kunimi mentioned something about wanting to go there too, when they graduated Kitagawa Daiichi.

"What about you, Kageyama?" They asked him one day.

"Me?" Tobio thought to himself. He remembered the games he watched on the TV, he remembered that victorious team, and that he wanted to be victorious too. "Shiratorizawa."

"Eh, really?" Kindaichi looked at him, surprised. "Isn't it really difficult to get into that school? Good luck with that!"

He didn't really think about it, but when he looked up he found out that - yes - it was really difficult to get into Shiratorizawa. There was no way he was going to get in there with his grades, he realized, depressed. His only hope was to improve his skills, so he could get into the team.

"I can do it." he told himself. "I'll get better and join Shiratorizawa and become victorious!"

Things quickly went downhill from that. It started innocently enough, but the change was there. If Tobio was already obsessed with the game before, that just got worse. If he got anything less than perfect on his moves, he'd start getting more and more impatient with himself. At this point his teammates were getting really worried about him.

How does he play, like he's running out of time? Play day and night like he's running out time? Everyday he plays like he's running out of time...

"Take it easy, Kageyama!" Kindaichi kept repeating to him. "Why do you play like tomorrow won't arrive? It's like you need it to survive!"

"It's like he will never be satisfied..." Kunimi sighed, as he packed his things to leave.

It got even worse on the third year.

Maybe he thought his perfectionism with himself wasn't enough. When he became so good others couldn't keep up, his atitude with them changed as well. Everytime one of his teammates didn't do well enough or didn't try hard enough, Kageyama would snap at them. How dare them, was he the only one who cared about this? Why couldn't they try harder like he did?

"Don't be so hard on the first years, Kageyama, they're still learning!"

Ah, yes. He remembered Kindaichi was the one who argued with him the most. At the time he found it annoying, but eventually - in a future not so distant - he'd feel guilty. Those were warnings, he'd realize one day. He was warned many times that his behaviour was wrong, but he wouldn't listen.

Move faster. Jump higher. More, more MORE-

"Kageyama."

"I said more!"

"Look around! Look at their faces, they're exhausted! Isn't this enough?! What would be enough?!"

Kunimi was the one who had to drag Kindaichi away.

"Forget it." He said, way more calmly than Kindaichi would be able to. "He will never be satisfied."

Eventually, there came a moment where Kageyama set the ball in the air, perfectly as he always did... And yet, no one was there to take it.

Rejection. Complete and utter rejection.

And maybe the thing that hurt the most was that the one person who ran after him the most, the one who kept trying to rationalize with him, even when everybody else had given up... Was the one who said this: 

"We're tired of you, you egocentric king."

Kageyama Tobio spent the graduation of middle school completely alone, without a single friend. And even after all that, he didn't get into Shiratorizawa.

"Happy gradution, Tobio..." He said to himself, as he hugged a volley ball to his chest.

Kindaichi really wished he could say he felt nothing when he saw that scene. Kageyama crying after gradution alone on the court. Kindaichi reached out a hand and took a step forward without even thinking about it... Before he gave up and left.

No. He brought this upon himself. This is what he deserves.

Before he left he turned around to look at him one last time, and felt his heart heavy with bitterness and something that seemed a lot like compassion and concern - something he kept away, locked it inside and refused to let it out.

I hope it was worth it. I hope you are satisfied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hamilton references everywhere... I just think the song "Non-stop" fits Kageyama perfectly, you just need to substitute the words "write" with "play".
> 
> Anyway, this was just a brief background about their past, before we get into the actual story. I don't know if it was covered on the manga, but I have this headcanon that the reason Kageyama changed so drastically in middle school was because he was obsessed with going to Shiratorizawa. And to get into Shiratorizawa he had to be no less than perfect, so he expected that perfection for not only himself, but to his teammates too. And we all know how that ended.
> 
> I think Kageyama's past is just so interesting! I wish there were more fanfics talking about that...


	2. Meeting again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's never easy to see people you used to be friends with, after the friendship is over. 
> 
> And even more difficult when you see them when the wound is still open and you hadn't had time to pull yourself together.
> 
> But maybe the hardest thing is seeing that someone you used to care about is better off without you.
> 
> And when that happens... Sometimes the only thing you can do, is deny it all.

The next time they saw each other was on the practice game between Aoba Johsai and Karasuno – after being rejected by Shiratorizawa, Kageyama had no choice but go to a school that was barely known. Normally, Aoba Johsai wouldn’t have this kind of game with a school with so little credit, but they accepted as long as Kageyama played as their setter for the entire game. Obviously they wanted to know how the genius prodigy was doing on that new school. Kindaichi couldn’t help but be curious as well.

And by that, he meant he wanted to see what a disaster it would be for Kageyama to try to get along with people who were so low in ability in comparison to himself.

That should be fun.

“Hey, that Karasuno team is coming today...” Shigeru-senpai commented as he and Kindaichi walked around the school. “That where  **he**  went, right?”

“Huh? He who?” Kindaichi asked, absent-mindedly.

“The king of the court. You were on the same middle school team as him, weren’t you, Kindaichi?” he asked him, obviously curious. Well, it is only natural that he would want to learn more about their adversaries.

“Oh, you mean Kageyama?” He asked. He scowled slightly. “He’s not all that, honestly. I mean, he’s pretty talented by himself, but doesn’t have the first clue what the word ‘teamwork’ means. The guy’s a diva. It’s always gotta be about him.”

They  kept talking for a while, about what they knew about Karasuno. That they had a hot manager, that one of the guys looked like a delinquent... Until the guy in question appeared to pick a fight.

Okay, so, they didn’t know Karasuno had people who were so tall and looked so dangerous. And where the hell did that crow come from?!

Eventually their captain came to get them back and apologized for his teammates’ behaviour, but once Kindaichi’s eyes focused on Kageyama he forgot about everything around him.

“It’s been a while...  **Your majesty**.” He couldn’t help taunting. “I’m curious to see what kind of reign the king has going on over at Karasuno.”

For a while, everything was quiet, as they all waited to see his reaction that was sure to come.

_‘Go ahead, try to intimidate me again. You have no power over me anymore.’_

But instead of snapping back, as Kindaichi was sure he was going to do...

“...Okay.” he replied quietly as he started walking away.

Kageyama acting all quiet? What the heck?

_‘No, no, no. Stop this and stop thinking about him. This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have even talked to him in the first place. God, but he makes me so angry! His presence shouldn’t affect me this much!’_

Forget it. Time to get ready for the game.

“Ugh! What’s with those Karasuno jerks and their big atitude?” But it seemed he wasn’t the only one upset about our adversaries, as Shigeru-senpai kept complaining about them.

“I know, right?” Kindaichi agreed. The door suddenly opened and a tiny guy with orange hair and a black Jersey entered.

“Ah.” Kindaichi looked at him in surprise, since he seemed strangely familiar. Had they met before?

That’s when it hit him. This shirmpy was that guy from that awful team they played against on the first game of competition last year!

Of course, he couldn’t remember everyone they ever played against, but... Somehow, this guy stood out. He wondered why, after all, he wasn’t even that good – even if he seemed great if compared to the rest of his team. That game, despite being the first of that year, wasn’t anything special, Kitagawa Daiichi didn’t have trouble to win at all, and yet...

Oh.

 ‘Yes. I remember now. I remember him, because he was that one player who could jump really high and the one who got Kageyama’s attention last year.’

At that time, Kindaichi was already pretty fed up with Kageyama’s behaviour, but what he really couldn’t believe was that the “king” had apparently become intimidated by this tiny carrot-headed guy. He pretty much admitted he was good, or least had potential to be.

Didn’t he also challenge Kageyama after the game? Even though they lost badly? Gotta admit the guy has some guts.

“You a first year at Karasuno?” Kindaichi asked him. That means he and Kageyama are on the same team now!

“Um, yeah...”

“Really?!” That was hilarious. “So, what do you think of our old king, Kageyama? He still as arrogant and bossy as ever?”

“He’s not!” To his surprise, the shrimpy yelled back, glaring at him. Before Kindaichi could be flabbergasted at his reply, he kept talking. “Arrogant and bossy doesn’t even begin to cover it! Every day, it’s like I’m a peasant getting crushed under the iron bootheel of emperor Kageyama! Just because he’s a teeeeny bit good at some things, he gets such a big head!”

‘Hah, I should have known.’

“See?” Kindaichi looked at Shigeru-senpai as the midget confirmed everything he said earlier.

“Wow. He sure hates him.” Shigeru-senpai concluded.

“Though Kageyama actually is really good at blocking, serving and receiving.” Kindaichi gave him some credit.

“Yeah, he totally is! Aggravantingly enough.” The carrot-head agreed with him immediately.

“But... His setting sucks big-time!”

“And... His setting is especially awesome!”

Wait. What?

Kindaichi looked at him, shocked.

...No. That can’t be. There is no way.

“Oh, I see. You must never have had to try to actually hit one of them. They suck, like, really. They’re almost impossible for anyone to get.”

“Huh? They are?”

See, he has no idea. The guy looked beyond confused as Kindaichi said that, which only confirmed his theory. Kageyama’s tosses might seem impressive for the ones who are watching, but if you are the one trying to reach the ball, only then you realize how terrible it is.

“Even though he’s a setter, he doesn’t even get the common-sense idea of setting the ball so hitters can reach it.” He continued. “As a setter, al lhe needs is a pawn who’ll do exactly what he says. Anyone who he thinks he doesn’t need to win gets dumped.”

He knew that all too well.

Out of nowhere, that delinquent-like player from Karasuno appeared, acting all cool and saying Kageyama was no longer the same from middle school. Kindaichi highly doubted it. When the carrot-headed midget didn’t agree or disagree with this statement, Kindaichi could only presume this other guy was all talk, and didn’t give it much thought.

And even when he saw it with his own eyes, it was still hard to believe.

So far, nothing felt out of the ordinary. Karasuno wasn’t that bad, but that didn’t mean they were that good, either. It was weird that they would put that midget as a middle blocker, though. Still, he seemed so overwhelmed that he was more getting in the way than helping. The funniest part was when he actually got a serve so bad, he hit Kageyama’s head.

All in all, it was really amusing watching the “king” interact with his new teammates. At the beginning, it was exactly as he expected. Kageyama got sooo mad when that carrot-headed twerp hit him on the head...

“Get back out there and get back to normal, you stupid runt!” He screamed at him.

Karasuno ended up losing the first set.

The second set started, and everything seemed normal, but... what’s that midget running up for? Were they gonna try a quick? They didn’t do any in the first set...

To his surprise, Kageyama ended up tossing to the short middle-blocker, who had to jump really high to reach for it.

‘A quick set... So they do have one?!’

For a moment he could only stand and stare, astonished, as the guy lifted his hand, prepared to hit...!

...And then, missed the ball completely. It was no use. He could jump high, but not as high as that ball.

Kindaichi couldn’t help himself.

“Hey.” He whispered at the carrot-headed middle blocker, who was right in front of him. “You know if you can’t hit those... Kageyama’s going to get ticked at you.” He teased, feeling great satisfaction at the guy’s surprised reaction.

“Hinata!” Kageyama yelled out at him.

“There. See?” Kindaichi smirked, waiting for the explosion. Here it comes...

“Sorry, my bad. That one was too high.”

...

What?!

That... That was Kageyama’s voice, right? The “king’s” voice? He didn’t misheard it, right?

He stared at the scene, barely believing what he heard.

“Kageyama...” He started, but stopped mid-sentence, not being able to finish. That was too crazy, it couldn’t be real...

Thankfully, someone beside him was just as surprised as him, and finished the sentence for him.

“...apologized...?” It was Kunimi. He barely even noticed his friend was right beside him, being too imersed at Kageyama’s words; yet he was glad to know that:

One – he was not the only one who heard that.

Two – he was not the only one who was bewildered by it.

Thank God, for a moment he thought he had gone crazy.

That didn’t mean the situation was any less confusing, though.

To make matters worse, the next time Kageyama set for that guy, he hit it so fast, he never even noticed it was coming.

“I never thought there was actually a hitter out there who could keep up with his impossible setting!”

“That isn’t quite right...” Our couch gathered us around. Their hitters aren’t matching Kageyama, Kageyama is matching his sets to where his hitters, especially that short number 5, are jumping. And he’s doing it perfectly.”

That explanation should have given more sense to everything, but it only made it more unbelievable.

“ **The** Kageyama... is swallowing his pride to match up with someone else...?”

It was easier to believe that Karasuno had found a hitter who somehow managed to keep up with Kageyama, than to believe Kageyama was the one holding back to match with him.

What the hell was this about? What happened to the tyranical king who pushed around his teammates like pawns? Kindaichi had refused to believe he could have changed so drastically since the last time he saw him, not to mention so quickly, and yet...

How did this happen? And why?

And more importanly, why only  **now**?!

Right before getting back into the game, Kindaichi overheard their coach commenting:

“Well, there is no guarantee that if we had gotten him, he would’ve played like this for us too.”

His ears perked up in interest. He was trying so hard to understand...

“Perhaps it’s because he went to Karasuno, and because he’s on a team with that number 5 that he became who he is today.”

...

Seriously?

Because of him?

What is so special about him, anyway? He’s an amateur, at most!

_And why would he change so much for someone he hardly knows? I tried so hard to get him to listen to me, but it was no use, and... and...!_

**_Why were they able to make him into a better player when we couldn’t?!_ **

The intrusive thoughts hit Kindaichi like a wave, making him lose focus for the rest of the match.

And he promised himself he wouldn't let Kageyama get to him anymore!

Why should he care, anyway? If Kageyama wanted to set to that carrot-headed idiot,  **fine**! So be it! Kindaichi was done chasing after that egocentric king, anyway. If anything, he was glad Kageyama wasn't his responsability anymore.

That's right. He didn't care. That's it. Done. Period.

However... Telling himself that didn't exactly solve his problems.

Even after Oikawa-senpai arrived to play, it was already too late - their team couldn't recover. Perhaps they weren't prepared to face the attacks of the so-called 'freak-duo'; or their mistake laid in underestimating the entire team. Who knows. Either way, Karasuno was the one who took the victory.

To make things worse, Kageyama had the nerve to seek him out after the game.

"I..."

Kindaichi didn't have the patience to hear what he had to say.

"Don't you apologize to me!" He screamed, not caring if others heard. "And I'm not gonna apologize to you!"

Kageyama looked shocked for a second, staying very quiet. Finally, he replied with a small: "Okay."

"To me, you're always gonna be a tyrannical king - a royal jerk." He couldn't stop himself, there was just so much pent up inside him. "...And the one guy I wanna beat more than anyone else!"

"Okay." Was all he said.

"So no apologizing!"

"Okay."

"We aren't gonna be friends again, because we weren't friends in the first place!"

"...Okay."

"And the next time we play, my team's gonna be the one to win!" Kindaichi promised.

They stayed there, silently glaring at each other for a while. Kageyama seemed like he wanted to say something, but was interrupted by that carrot-headed midget. Kindaichi couldn't help glaring at him too, he was pissed at him as well!

Good thing he got the message and left.

"Kindaichi." Kageyama called, looking up at him.

"Next time our teams play," His eyes were full of confidence. "We're going to win again." And then he left, leaving Kindaichi alone with his thoughts.

For a while, he could just stand there, absolutely shocked. That was until Kunimi arrived, surprised to find Kageyama leaving the place where Kindaichi was.

"Did you two talk?" He asked curiously.

"Kageyama... said 'we'."

"Huh?"

"Before, he was always 'I this', 'me that', like he was the only one on the team."

He sighed deeply. This was so frustrating...

"Dammit. Why does this bother me so much...?"

_He's changed..._

~~_It could have been us._ ~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a little unsure of how to begin this chapter, because I said I kinda know how this story will go, but I need to figure it out as I go, so... I decided to just write about their metting on the practice match, on Kindaichi's P.O.V.
> 
> I hope it wasn't boring, I know it went pretty much the same as the original episode/chapter of manga, but all in all I enjoyed exploring Kindaichi's character, how he felt during that day, what he was thinking...
> 
> And GUYS. I didn't remember him being so petty! Like, seriously, I was reading the manga again to write this, and I remembered him being bitter; but like, he also struck up a conversation with Hinata just to speak badly of Kageyama, looked extremely satisfied when Hinata agreed with everything he was saying, and still teased him during the game at every opportunity. He was just there to start drama from the beginning, I love it! He's so petty, OMG, this guy needs to chill xD
> 
> Oh, and @Karasuno Volleygays, I'll be taking your nickname for Hinata. From now on, Kindaichi will refer to him as "Carrot-head" - which is only fair, since Hinata keeps calling him "Turnip-head".


	3. We need to talk about Kageyama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't always go the way you think they will. And it never gets any easier.
> 
> But that's why you gotta stick close to the people you trust; so they can put you back together again!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, thank you so much for your lovely comments and kudos! i really appreciate them! I was aware that my work was not going to be very popular, because it is about a rare pairing, but you guys have been wonderful, and so receptive! I'm so happy I was able to entertain you guys, and I hope I can continue to do so in the future.
> 
> Thank you all for giving me a chance and reading my first work. It means a lot to me!
> 
> Now, with no further ado, let's get into today's chapter!

After that conversation on the bathroom, things got a little... Complicated, to say the least.

To put it simply... Kindaichi’s pride was left in pieces.

It was possible that he had a little too much ego that day, feeling completely confident that his team would easily be able to beat that arrogant king and put him into his place – that would teach him that playing on his own and bossing other people around wasn’t the right way to win!

But instead, it seemed like... He had already learned that lesson???

Not only they were not able to beat him – which, by the way, was only because Oikawa-san was not around! – but he was also not an arrogant king anymore? Was that for real?

And he didn’t even know why that bothered him so much!

Why was he wasting his time thinking about that?!

Okay. He could accept that Kageyama had, in fact, changed. It was difficult to believe that only a few months was enough to make him change so drastically, but... Okay. He did change. He grew up, he mattured... Whatever. That was not the problem here.

The thing is, even if he knew, Kageyama was no longer an egocentric king, there was no way he was ever going to trust him again. The bad blood between them ran too deep, and nothing can be done to fix it.

He can apologize all he wants, but Kindachi won't even care. You can break a vase and say sorry to it, but it'll never get back to the way it was before. He didn’t want his apologies, didn’t want his excuses, and definitely didn’t want his friendship.

So why couldn’t he stop thinking about it?!

...

Okay.

If he was honest with himself; he knew why.

They’ve known each other for three years. And they’ve been teammates for this long. And Kageyama has never once listened to him, no matter how hard he tried.

How come, then, Karasuno got him to change so much in only a few months? That made no sense!

What do they have that we didn’t?

 What exactly was missing?

Was... Was it me...?

Could it be I was the problem? Didn’t I try hard enough for him to bother listening to me? Was I... just unnecessary to victory as much as everybody else?

I thought back about that carrot-headed shrimpy, and how our coach mentioned he was the reason for that drastic change.

_Why thinking about him makes me so angry?_

~~It could have been us.~~

Stop it. What is past is the past.

......................

Eventually, he told Kunimi exactly what happened when Kageyama came to see him after the game. Explained everything to him, but when he did, he became aware of the impact of my words.

Even though he actually felt a lot of satisfaction when he said it, he couldn’t help being ashamed as he explained all the things he said that were fully meant to hurt the person the words were addressed to.

“Maybe we should talk about that.” Kunimi spoke suddenly, when we were on our way home.  He sighed. “Look, I didn’t want to talk to you about it, because I knew it would upset you and I didn’t want to rub salt on the wound. But since you keep bringing it up ever since you found out he was coming, I can only assume it is because you want to discuss it.”

“What is there to discuss?”

“For God’s sake, Kindaichi...!” He was surprised when Kunimi suddenly raised his voice, before taking a deep breath to calm himself down. He was usually so chill all the time that it was shocking seeing him get angry.

“Look.” He began, as calmly as possible: “It’s okay to be upset, alright? You don’t need to keep those bad feelings inside. You are hurt because of the way he treated you, and that’s okay; you have every right to be upset!”

“I am not hurt!” He tried to play it off like that didn’t really bother him. “Not as much as anyone else, anyway. Or are you going to say that it didn’t annoy you that he treated you like shit?”

“Of course I am upset!” Kunimi retorted. “But at least I can admit why! Now you, you keep acting like what happened was just because of volleyball, but it had nothing to do with volleyball! It had to do with us!”

Kindaichi unconsciously clenched his fists and looked away. Still, Kunimi persisted.

“You are not angry with Kageyama because he ruined our team, or because he ruined volleyball. No, you are angry because **we** -” He made it very clear that this didn’t involve just Kindaichi, but himself as well. As if Kunimi wanted him to know that he was not alone in this. “-lost a friend.”

Why did he have to talk like that...?! Before he knew it, a wave of emotion overcame Kindaichi and he had to swallow hard before he was able to talk:

“And were we ever friends in the first place, Kunimi?” His friend was left stunned at the raw emotion clear on his voice.  “Or was he just using us, like he was using everyone else, until they we were no longer necessary? For all we know, we were just pawns to him, he might never have seen us as friends!”

Kunimi shared his look of frustration, but sighed in relief that finally, _finally,_ Kindaichi was opening up to what he truly felt. For a while, Kunimi decided it would be best not to bring up the past, since it seemed to do nothing but hurt his friend; and when Kindaichi stopped talking about it, it seemed he had got over it on his own.

Of course, that all went out of the window as soon as Aoba Johsai accepted the practice game with Karasuno. That was all Kindaichi needed to release all that pent-up bitterness towards Kageyama. That was when Kunimi realized Kindaichi still had unresolved feelings towards him, and hadn’t gotten closure as Kunimi hoped he had.

And that meant they **had** to talk about it.

“So you got back at him by telling him you didn’t see him as a friend either?”

Kindaichi looked away, ashamed.

“Hey, look, I’m not judging you, I’m just trying to understand your side.” Kunimi assured. “Granted, it probably wasn’t the best way to deal with it, because it wasn’t true, but some would say he even deserved it. I don’t know if you’d say that, though. It’s not like you to be this rancorous.”

It really wasn’t. Kindaichi didn’t have the tendency to hold grudges, but when it came to Kageyama, he seemed to lose all sense.

“Ugh...” Kindaichi grunted, and Kunimi knew he had hit the bull’s eye. “Kunimi, must you always be so rational? Why can’t you be just a little unreasonable? That would make me feel much better.”

Kunimi smiled.

“Sorry, no can do. One of us has to take the place of the more sensible friend. It’s a burden I have to carry.”

There was a moment of silence.

“...Fine.” Kindaichi admited. “I thought I would be happy when I told him that, but it only made me feel worse. Like I’m taking it out on someone who doesn’t deserve it. Because... I think he doesn’t deserve it anymore...”

Kunimi nodded.

“Yeah, I saw the way he acted during the game. As difficult as that is to process, I suppose he did make it up for it.”

Kindaichi bit his lip.

“I just don’t get it. What did they do, that we didn’t?”

Kunimi punched him on the arm.

“Stop being so angsty for just one second. Is that what you think? That it was up to you to stop him from becoming a ‘king’? Well, then I guess there’s blame to share, because I didn’t do enough either. Let’s stop pointing fingers, that will get us nowhere.”

“I... Suppose you’re right.” Kindaichi agreed, but the uneasy expression didn’t change.

“That doesn’t mean you have to forgive him.” Kunimi reassured him. “Or that you should have done more to prevent anything on the past from happening. We were all at fault. Our friend suddenly started acting like a complete different person and we didn’t know how to deal with that. We were so young and stupid back then.”

“That was last year.”

“I stand by what I said.” Kunimi looked down for a moment. “I even tried to make sense of the situation, by thinking to myself that we are not supposed to stay friends forever with people we went to middle school with.” He muttered. “But ending things like that was terrible. And don’t worry, you were not the only one who was upset about Kageyama getting along so well with his new team. But remember, we get along really well with our new team too. We are not behind him, or anything.” He smiled encouragingly.

“I guess you’re right.” He smiled back. Then he rolled his eyes. “Ugh, on one hand, good for him that Karasuno was able to knock that crown out of his head. On the other, screw him, we have been trying to the same for years...!”

“I told you to stop thinking about that, idiot.” Kunimi punched him playfully again.

“Hey, but didn’t you just say I was not supposed to keep this negativity inside?”

“Yeah, but goddamn, there is a limit of how many complains I can take in one day. Hit me up tomorrow, if you want to continue.” He laughed.

After they had that conversation, they finally parted ways and went to his respective homes. For the first time, Kindaichi felt light, absolutely relieved for having that conversation. He never realized the load he was carrying around until it was taken away from him.

Maybe... he was not ready to forgive Kageyama yet. But at least, he was ready to forgive himself and let go.

From now on... he would only look forward!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna lie, the chapter started very depressing, and it was going to be all sad again, but I decided to give my boy Kindaichi a break. I reminded myself that he has an awesome friend who can - quite literally - knock some sense into him when he's feeling down, but wasn't given enough credit on my previous chapters.
> 
> "Stop being so angsty for just one second." is not only what Kunimi told Kindaichi, but also what I told myself while writing this. Let's lighten up a bit, yeah?
> 
> So I decided to let them have a little heart-to-heart to make things more pleasant. I really enjoyed writing their conversation, and I hope I gave their characters justice! :D
> 
> I know I talked a lot about the way Kindaichi felt after Kageyama went on king mode, but I noticed almost no one speaks of how Kunimi must have felt. I mean, he was his friend too, so of course he got hurt by it as well. Just because he didn't show it as much as Kindaichi, it doesn't mean he wasn't hurt.
> 
> And man... Kunimi is one hell of a wise 15 years old, huh? He's definitely the voice of reason between these three. And of course, he'll have an important role on the story too, even if the focus is on the romance between Kageyama and Kindaichi.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading, and I'll see you on the next chapter! See ya!


End file.
